Various exercise devices have been proposed in the prior art which are intended as accessories in jogging or aerobics. Some of these devices rely on the user to provide resistance. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,441,707 (Bosch) discloses an exercise belt for joggers. The belt encircles the waist and houses a flexible line which terminates at each end in a handle. However, this device does not have any means of imparting resistance to the line. Instead, the user must supply his own resistance by pushing forward on one handle while resisting the backward movement of the other handle. Therefore, it is difficult for the user of this device to maintain a consistent resistance throughout the period of use.
Some attempts have been made to provide a workout device which imparts variable resistance to the user. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,137,272 (Wilkinson) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,377 (Wilkinson) disclose exercise devices to be used for aerobics or walking. These devices rely on elastic cords to provide resistance to the arms and legs of the user. In some embodiments, the devices contain a brake lock which can be used to adjust the resistance of the elastic resistance lines. However, while the brake lock does provide some resistance, the user must still supply additional resistance by pushing forward on one handle while resisting the backward movement of the other handle. In addition, the nature and placement of the elastic cord is such that the resistance provided extends only half way through the extension of the arms. Furthermore, because the device utilizes a single line, it is not possible to exercise one arm independently of the other arm. Finally, the resistance line interfaces with the handles in such a way that the line continually comes into contact with the user's arm during use.
Other devices rely on cables and pulleys to provide resistance. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,961,573 (Wehrell) discloses a boxing harness equipped with shoulder straps. The device is worn on the upper body and contains a housing into which a line terminating in handgrips retracts. The housing contains a series of pulleys which provide resistance to the line. The device is optionally fitted with means for making the resistive force selectively adjustable. However, this device is unsuitable for jogging, since it requires the user to hold his hands at chest level, not at waist level, and therefore interferes with the natural stride of a runner. Furthermore, the location of the pulley system directly under the arms of the user causes the pulley system to come into contact with the arms of the user during workout. In addition, because of the location of the harness on the body of the user, the lines are at a small enough angle to the arms of the user to cause them to come into continual contact with the user's arms. Finally, since both handles are attached to the same line, it is not possible to exercise one arm independently from the other or to provide a different resistance to each arm.
The prior art discloses many types of handles used with jogging or aerobics accessories. However, none of the devices known to the art provide handles that exercise the muscles of the hands and provide an additional workout for the muscles of the forearms. For example, the handles on the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,961,573 consist of a handpiece, roughly cylindrical in shape, which fits the hand of the user, and which is beaded on a circular loop attached to the elastic line. Because this handpiece-and-loop combination fits securely into the crook of the hand, it is not necessary for the user to squeeze the handgrip to maintain his hold. Consequently, this type of handle provides little workout for the hands and forearms. The handles disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,441,707, which have rigid, U-shaped frames with a grip mounted on the outer, open end suffer from the same infirmity.
In addition, many exercise devices of the prior art have handles which dangle loosely from the device. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,441,707 (Bosch). This design is undesirable for sports such as jogging or aerobics, since the handles tend to come into contact with the body of the user when the device is not in use.
Finally, none of the handles of the prior art are designed to provide quick release, and are thus unsuitable for safety reasons in sports where falling down is a constant hazard. For example, conventional handles consisting of a handgrip on a loop require the user to retract his hand from the loop before the handle can be released. This creates a hazard for joggers, for example, who need to be able to rapidly extend their hands forward to brace for a fall. Loop-type handles interfere with this motion, possibly causing serious injury.